The Moment I Knew
by NexusTehULF0o
Summary: There is one specific moment that one knows when things are changing. Flynn Rider - or should we say, Eugene Fitzherbert - is no different. Oneshot. Rapunzel/Eugene.


**Title: The Moment I Knew**

**Author: NexustehULF0o**

**Description: ****There is one specific moment that one knows when things are changing. Flynn Rider – or should we say, Eugene Fitzerbert – is no different. Oneshot. Rapunzel/Eugene.**

**Rating: K**

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**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TANGLED. Still waiting on my art book. :c**

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**Nexus: Consider this…me hitting a road block in the middle of Distinguishing Features. :3 I had every intention to start writing this…just not now. XD**

**So anyway…lemme give you a little background on this piece you're about to read. I was perusing the internet when I came across HYT (HellYeahTangled, a Tangled tumblr account of which you should ALL subscribe to.) and saw a film reel of deleted scenes from the movie, one of which included a picture of Rapunzel sitting among fireflies. I sat there for a moment until I was finally like "I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS" and ta-dah! The Moment I Knew was born. So enjoy!**

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The tall trees whispered through the wood as a dark breeze blew against them, green leaves being whisked up into the air and carried a few feet before they dropped to the ground and others took their place. The sun had just set and the darkness was gathering like it was going to carry them off to who-knows-where.

So Flynn decided to build a fire. And the fire needed wood, as all fires do.

This was the second time that he'd gone out to get it tonight - she just kept piling on log after branch after twig, eyes glimmering in the firelight as she exclaimed that she always had asked her mother if she could put the wood, but never got to. He'd told her to feel free to put more in whenever she wanted; reflecting, he underestimated how overzealous she'd been about the whole ordeal.

It really was a feat getting rid of so much firewood so fast - the first time he'd left, he'd exclaimed that they he should probably go get more, and then passed by the whole pile he had just brought back.

But it was fair, considering he was itching to get away from something much more deadly than a dark forest at night.

When the feeling started, he didn't know. He'd been talking with her about her glowing, magic hair - it was hard to ignore, really - and suddenly, without warning, he'd been scooped up and held captive by her massive green eyes, which made a point to stare into his brown ones for much, MUCH longer than they were supposed to.

What was Blondie doing to him?

He couldn't deny that the girl was attractive – luscious, long blonde hair, thin, curvy figure, full lips…those cute little freckles that dotted her nose…that excited, never-faked smile…the way that she pushed her hair behind her ear when she –

The sticks and twigs in his hands dropped to the ground with an unceremonious _crash_ as both hands found the thief's head.

By the Sun, what _was _Blondie doing to him? He could barely breathe!

_All right, Rider – calm down. _He thought, letting his hands slowly slip down his face before he bent over and picked up the firewood once more. _Nothing to get all worked up over. So she's pretty, okay. You've handled pretty girls before. Plus, you've known the girl for all of about five minutes – you're just doing this so you can get that crown, remember? Remember the crown? _

That's right, the crown – the lost princess' crown that got him into this mess. Now he had the guards, the crazy horse, _and _two deranged thieving brothers after his head. Why couldn't he have been a model citizen for once and turned the Stabbington brothers down on their offer to sponsor the heist?

But more importantly, why did the thought of bringing her back to the tower in exchange only make him sick to his stomach?

Flynn continued pensively back to the campsite, spotting the fire burning brightly with gray smoke billowing up into the trees before dissipating against the starry night sky. He carelessly dumped the firewood onto the ground a bit away from the blaze, gazing at it while brushing excess tree bark from his white sleeves.

He looked up, half expecting the little pyromaniac to rush him when she saw he had brought more bark to burn.

But the girl and her pet frog were nowhere to be found.

"…Blondie…?" the question floated out into the middle of the campsite, but no answer returned. Adrenaline sprang into action.

"Blondie? Rapunzel?" He called, turning the site over before running hastily into the forest brush. "Rapunzel? Frog? Where are you?"

Great – he'd lost her. He'd been so _good _about keeping his eyes on her, too. Now she was probably unable to find her way back – cold and alone in the middle of the forest, where some weirdo could easily kidnap her and –

The thought came to a screeching halt when Flynn parted a large row of bushes, stepping out into a dark meadow, the looming wood surrounding it. It would have been infinitely frightening if not for the millions upon millions of fireflies darting about it, shining brightly through the blackness.

Flynn stepped slowly out into the clearing, slowly watching the fireflies float past.

Man, if Blondie could see this…

A smitten Eugene watched as the thought slyly snuck by the Flynn Rider persona.

Looking up, the thief immediately stopped himself from taking another step. His eyes grew wide and he stared deeply, a crooked smile playing across his lips for a brief second before he realized all the things that he had been thinking in that one moment that he shouldn't have been thinking at all.

Her long blonde tresses trailed from her head as she sat in a patch of green grass in the center of the dark meadow, her face lit by the surrounding fireflies as much as her awe-stricken expression. His face suddenly glowed with a wide, goofy grin - it never occurred to him that she'd never seen them before.

A ghost of a smile passed Rapunzel's lips as one of the insects buzzed silently by her face. She turned to Pascal on her shoulder and pointed at the bug – Pascal chirruped something in recognition.

The same foreign feeling that occurred earlier that night fluttered freely through Flynn as he watched the girl stare in awe at the sight of the lights periodically flickering on and off – his whole body felt warm and alive then, as if at any moment he could go running, and racing…and dancing…and chasing…

_Forget pretty, _he thought, _she's absolutely beautiful. _

Without thinking, Flynn's feet moved him forward – without the Rapunzel taking notice, of course. He silently approached her and softly sat beside the long-haired girl, taking a moment to prop his arm up on his bent knee before leaning his other arm back in the lush grass.

"Eugene, look…" she spoke to him softly before he was completely ready for her to recognize his presence. "They're like…lantern bugs."

His heart skipped a beat at the childlike name. _Lantern bugs. _She was…well, she was certainly something else.

"Fireflies." He couldn't help holding back the smile that shone through his tone when he spoke. Why couldn't he get this stupid smile off of his face? Didn't she know what she was _doing _to him?

"Fireflies…" the words graced her lips so curiously, yet in the same moment full of awe and happiness and…something he couldn't quite put his finger on. She passed a small sigh and shifted her folded hands in her lap, contented with simply watching them. "They're…amazing."

He chuckled slightly under his breath. "Wait until you catch them." He said softly, sitting straight after folding his legs.

Rapunzel looked over at him, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Why would you want to catch them?" she asked, blinking innocently. He couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"I dunno…it's fun." He explained, hunching over slightly and resting his elbows on his thighs before folding his hands. "When I was younger, me and the kids from the orphanage used to do it all the time."

She smiled – his insides nearly melted.

"Here, lemme show you…" He continued before the silence roamed where he dare not let it go. He raised both of his hands to eye level, poised and waiting for the closest flash of greenish-white light to emerge from the darkness.

"You keep your hands cupped like this…and…!"

He clapped his hands together and drew it close to his chest, an overly curious Rapunzel following suit.

The thief's hands slowly crept open to reveal a small insect crawling inside his palm - her eyes glimmered with unspoken excitement as the bug flashed its trademark glow. She smiled warmly then, the firefly wordlessly leaving them and once again taking to the sky.

"Now you try." he said quietly, leaning her way and flashing her a smirk. She pushed him away, a grin managing to place itself on her face as well.

Rapunzel watched carefully, her cupped hands poised in front of her as she scanned for the closest bug to catch until she finally set her sights on one not too far from where she was seated. The insect unknowingly floated along – she struck, clapping her hands together loudly, then excitedly drawing them closer and opening them again only to find nothing within.

Flynn chuckled at the overdramatic frown on her face. Her head turned swiftly, glaring something very sharp at the young thief.

"What are _you _laughing at?" she asked accusingly, her eyes narrowing to near slits.

"Nothing, nothing." He grinned at her expense, but she was too busy executing attempt after attempt to catch one of the insects.

She began by crawling on her hands and knees around the small clearing as if looking to sneak up on the little lanterns – but time and time again they narrowly evaded her grasp. Her long blonde hair trailed behind her like a shadow, the only signal to its presence being the soft rustling of the grass as it snaked its way through. Those green eyes he'd continually been telling himself not to stare into for too long now darted about the area, keeping tabs on anything and everything that moved and glowed a faint green. Her hands stayed ready to attack at any moment she was not crawling – she remained ever-ready for a strike.

Before Flynn was ever aware that any time had passed, Rapunzel was up and bounding around the meadow, looking to at least capture one for herself. She would clap her hands together any time she felt she could catch something – he could sense her frustration at the whole ordeal increasing with every failed attempt.

Suddenly, the barefooted girl stopped, pushing blonde locks from her face in one swift motion, the other hand hanging at her side as she slouched.

"This is hard…" she bit her bottom lip, expression admitting defeat. Flynn simply laughed and stood, joining her on the far side of the meadow before sticking his hands in his back pockets.

"Well, maybe you're not doing it right." He suggested, and her face quickly turned from exhausted to quizzical.

"There's a wrong way to do it?" she inquired, curious. Flynn placed a hand on one hip and flashed a cocky grin.

"O'course there is." He put on a knowing face for her as she became more and more interested. "I don't mean to brag, but you're looking at the best firefly catcher in the whole kingdom right here." The thief stuck a thumb to his chest, basking in his own self-importance.

She seemed to buy it, but did nothing more. Just watched him with those shiny green pupils of hers.

"Here – lemme show you." He nodded, and then lifted one hand, cradling it in his own lightly as if he weren't holding it at all.

A crimson blush spread across his face at the mere brushing of their skin, much to his dismay.

_What the hell! _Flynn called from within. _Get a hold of yourself, you pansy! This kind of thing is not Flynn Rider's style!_

But who Flynn Rider was, exactly, he didn't know. All he knew were those bright, glimmering green eyes and that soft, fleeting brush of their hands that made him want to do some unspeakably Eugene-esque things.

Suddenly, he broke eye contact and fiddled with her hands, nervously trying to cup them both. When he had succeeded, his eyes instinctively flashed up at her, and he smiled sheepishly, concerned for her reaction.

He wondered if she'd ever been in love before.

Because he hadn't. At least never like this.

_By the Sun, Fitzherbert – _his Flynn persona rose again from the recesses of his subconscious _– what am I going to _DO _with you? It's just some girl! You're all about the crown! Remember the crown? _

But he didn't.

"Eugene?"

"Now…" he said, slowly letting go of her hands but unwilling to let go of her gaze. "Just keep your eyes on one firefly..." he trailed off.

Oh, no.

No, no, no…he couldn't be doing this…It was way too early for something like this and he'd only know her a day and half and everything was moving so fast and he got this dizzy feeling whenever he saw her and he just felt drawn too drawn to her to just ignore it…he felt like, no matter how much he thought of his old dream, he couldn't shake the one behind it that Rapunzel would still be up in her lonely old tower alone with that weirdo of a mother…

And that, he couldn't bear to think about.

So what was he going to do about it?

He began to panic as she stepped forward, slowly narrowing the space between them. Oh, man – she wasn't gonna…no, it was too early for her to…she probably didn't even know how to – _GAH, _why did he want it so badly?

_SMACK!_

Although he remained unscathed, the sudden noise brought Eugene back to the real world. He shook his head vigorously, then sticking his pinky in his ear as if to stop the ringing that had soon after accompanied the sound.

"Geez, Blondie – what was that for?" he started.

Rapunzel paid him no attention – the blonde girl now stood staring at her closed hands, as if waiting for them to do something on their own. He leaned over, peering into the open slit of her hands. Two small fireflies now crawled nonchalantly about her thin, delicate hands, lighting the hollow with neon green luminescence.

"Well, look at that." He said appreciatively, moving adjacent to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Look like you're getting the hang of it there, Blondie. Nice."

The girl looked up at him and instead of grinning at him, she flashed him a small, truly content smile, her emerald eyes once again gazing deep into his.

She was…she was _stunning_.

And interesting, and caring, and understanding…and well, everything he didn't expect her to be. It'd been a long time since he'd felt like this about anyone.

But then a warm, sticky tongue met his inner ear.

The thief almost two feet into the air, exclaiming some kind of habble-babble while attempting to swat the annoying chameleon off of his shoulder.

Rapunzel chuckled at the sight, her radiant smile forcing him to immediately forgive the stupid frog.

"Thanks." She uttered before blinking softly, turning her head back to the fireflies. She unfolded her hands and watched them sit in her open palms for a brief moment, then grinned as they simultaneously took flight, almost as if nothing ever happened.

Folding his arms, a genuine smile crept across the face of Eugene Fitzherbert.

_Forget the crown, _he thought, _Rapunzel's worth much more than that._

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**Nexus: Hopefully I'll break through th wall of nothingness with Distinguishing Features soon. Haha - I know where I want to go but something is jsut dragging ON AND ON, not to mention I've been busy lately.**

**Also, I'd like to take a moment to thank the people who have reviewed my fics! I LOVE YOU GUYS! :3**

**And that bridges into...PLEASE REVIEW? :3**


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